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Don’t Throw It Away: This Is How You Can Recycle Watermelon Peel

Hardly anyone knows that you can eat watermelon peel almost completely. The peel is tasty and contains important nutrients. With these tips, you can best recycle the rind of the watermelon.

Watermelons are a wonderful refreshment in summer. After enjoying the melon, however, a large mountain of peels usually ends up in the garbage. It doesn’t have to be. Our tip: don’t throw away the peel, but recycle it.
You can add the “whiteness” of the watermelon to a summer salad or smoothie, pickle it or boil it down to make jam. And the kernels become a delicious snack.

Recycle the watermelon peel

Except for the very outer, dark green skin of the watermelon, the entire fruit is edible. The peel, i.e. the white layer under the green skin, contains fiber, vitamin C, and amino acids. Anyone who recycles the peel of the watermelon also does something against food waste.

Watermelon zest in a smoothie or salad

The easiest way to use watermelon peel: next time you’re making a smoothie, throw in the white pulp – it goes well with almost any fruit blend. The taste of the white flesh of the watermelon skin is most reminiscent of cucumber. Maybe that’s why it makes a great addition to a summer salad.

Remove the outermost skin with the vegetable peeler and coarsely grate the white flesh or cut into small sticks and add to the salad. The bowl is already saved and the salad spiced up.

Melon peel jam

For 500 grams of melon peel you need the juice of half a lemon and 250 grams of preserving sugar. Remove the outermost green of the watermelon rind and dice the remaining rind plus a layer of the red flesh.

Mix the pieces of fruit with sugar and let them infuse for half a day. Then bring to a boil and simmer until the melon has the right consistency. Stir in the lemon juice and pour the hot mixture into clean mason jars.

Watermelon peel pickles as a snack

Watermelon peel pickles are a delicious snack, but they also taste great with cheese and as a topping on salads. For the pickles you will need:

500 grams of watermelon peel with some red pulp
200 ml apple cider vinegar
200ml of water
200 grams of sugar
1 tsp salt
Spices (fresh ginger, cloves, peppercorns, lemon zest)
Cut the flesh of the watermelon into small pieces. Bring the water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices to the boil and cook the melon pieces for five minutes. Pour into jars while still hot and store in the fridge. It is best to consume within a few days, then the pickles taste best.

Watermelon seeds are little powerhouses

You shouldn’t laboriously pull out the seeds of the watermelon, you should definitely eat them. They contain a lot of valuable vitamin A, vitamin B, and C, unsaturated fatty acids as well as iron, magnesium, and calcium.

You can either eat the kernels – but then don’t just swallow them, but chew them well – or dry them and stir the powder into smoothies or muesli. You can also dry the watermelon seeds, roast them in a pan with a little oil and salt, and then nibble them as a snack or sprinkle them over the salad.

How sustainable are watermelons?

Strictly speaking, the watermelon is not a fruit, but a vegetable – it belongs to the pumpkin family and is actually exotic. The “fruits” that can be bought here in summer mostly come from Europe – from Spain, Greece, Italy or Turkey. They are usually transported by ship or train.

This means that the watermelon has a better ecological balance than exotic fruits such as pineapple or mango, which are often flown in. Overall, the CO₂ balance of watermelon with an emission value of less than 40 grams of CO₂ per 100 grams of fruit is no higher than that of grapes.

Three tips for the most sustainable watermelon enjoyment possible:

  • Eat watermelons when they’re in season – in the summer.
  • Buy organic melons that aren’t sprayed with dangerous pesticides.
  • Keep your eyes peeled for watermelons from Germany. In the meantime, they are also available from regional cultivation in some supermarkets and farm shops.
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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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